The Recluse

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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

I've fired up the ol' blog here in hopes of squashing some questions about keeping your World of Warcraft account active with in game gold - Or instead amassing a dragon's hoard worth of gold with minimal effort and time invested.

So to get into it, there will be a few things you'll have to do as prerequisites, which will mostly fall on the shoulders of collecting and leveling some key battlepets to 25. If you're an avid collector already this may not be too big of a deal, but if you're just starting out this can be a huge undertaking. I would also strongly recommend the addon called PetBattle Teams to keep things organized which you can find through the Curse client here. So lets get into it starting with some battle pet dailies you can do for a chance at some serious dough with very minimal effort once you're set up.

Panda Spirit Pets
So, in order to farm these pets you first need to complete a quest started by Sara Finkleswitch if you're alliance, or Gentle San if you're horde - both of which are standing on their respective Panda hub outside decks. More information about this quest found here. I would recommend upon completion of this quest that you select the Pandaren Water Spirit as your reward, as it is the most useful of the spirits to add to your arsenal. You can find easy strats to defeating each of the spirits here.

Once you complete the quest, you can battle each of the spirits daily once per account for a chance at getting the respective spirit you're battling as a pet. These pets range anywhere from 1k to 10k depending on the pet and your server.

My method to farm this is simple. Roll fresh characters on an empty server and have a friend (or any other helpful player) fly one to each of the Pandaren Spirits and park there indefinitely. Each day you just log in your characters one by one, completing each spirit's battle, and moving onto the next one until they're all finished. If you don't feel like doing each spirit, at the very least I would advise parking one character on the Pandaren Water Spirit to fight daily. This pet is the most expensive of the set and therefor is worth the most gold for your time.

Darkmoon Feasles
While Darkmoon is in town there are quite a few lucrative ventures to capitalize on. Farming Moon Moon, The Darkmoon Rabbit, Fishing for Darkmoon Daggermaw. or simply doing the repeatable daily quests on all your characters can net you a fair sum. I'm not going to go into any of that since sitting on spawns or grinding through the mini-game dailies can get old very quickly.

As stated above with the Pandaren Spirits, I would advise making another character exclusively for when the Darkmoon Faire is in town. Park this character next to the Darkmoon Feasel Pet Battle Dailies and fight each of them for a chance to get Syd the Squid as a battle pet each day.

Ahn'qiraj 40 Raid
This one isn't a pet battle but is instead an old raid I run for the explicit purpose of obtaining some very sought after pets. The main focus of which being the Anubisath Idol. However, there is a boss that is skippable within the raid that most people don't tend to bother killing named Viscidus because of it's particular fight mechanics.

Viscidus can only be killed by first freezing him with frost damage, and bursting his frozen block of ice with enough hits per freeze time to shatter the ice.In my experience only a few class/specs can easily handle this and they are as follows: Beastmaster Hunter, Windwalker Monk, Frost or Unholy DK, Outlaw Rogue, Fury Warrior, Enhancement Shaman, and Havoc Demon Hunter. I will post another entry about this fight since it's so niche. Because of this however, people tend to just skip it altogether. Meaning theres money people are missing out on and less contest for this pet's market.

Garrison Minagerie
I know, I know, you never go to your garrison any more. Hear me out though -t he pet battle menagerie has some really good rewards still! You'll be rewarded with battle pet tokens that you can spend in Legion-Dalaran at the pet supply shop - including available pets and buff items, the former of which can be sold for profit and the latter of which can be used for massive battlepet gains if you're in need. Also the menagerie rewards you can contain straight up pet leveling tokens to throw onto some scrub pet you're pitifully trying to level up here and there - or just boosting a pet you want to sell at level 25 (Like the Anubisath Idol mentioned earlier). You also have a chance at getting a random set of pets as loot upon completion! There's more of a demand since not as many people are doing these in Legion content, which makes for a win all around.

I do neglect the menagerie fights more often than not, but sometimes I check in to see what the rewards are. If a fight is quick I'll run all of my characters through it just to get some fast and easy gains.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

It's time for an update on the new and going plans for this blog site. First and foremost, I won't be streaming any more. At least, I won't be streaming any more on a regular basis. I don't have the kind of recurring schedule needed to gain the momentum needed for streaming. With that being said, I may still stream occasionally and/or do videos based on activities i'm doing or games i'm playing.

Scrapping the Twitch channel info prior posted and going forward in the new vein - We're playing a lot of WoW over here. Got my girlfriend up and running dungeons with me sometimes and sprinkling in levels here and there. Almost done with a roster full of Horde classes (barring a Monk and a Priest) to 100. Working on an Alliance Druid that's pretty close to done (82 at this time). Getting in some Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone when theres time as well. Continuing onward you will probably experience a lot of WoW posts, at least until Overwatch launches or Battlefront drops - then you'll see a fair ammount of those themed posts.

You may also see reviews on things I've read, seen, or listened to recently, like Batman:The Doom that Came to Gotham or Mad Max: Fury Road. I know they may not be "current" by the time I get my hands on em, but that doesn't change the fact that i've got opinions about them so keep an eye out for that.

Hopefully in the near future we'll get something a little juicier splashed on these pages. For now though, thanks for giving a ganders at these words here and stay tuned for more (and hopefully more exciting) posts in the future.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Day 8

I find myself revitalized despite being sleep deprived. A good meal has breathed some life back into me. I spend the day chopping down the surrounding forest and building back up my resource stock so that I may start researching new technologies. I find that wood may be one of the most vital resources I can gather at this point on account of it's versatility in crafting, so I chop my day away. That is, until, ONE OF THE TREES SPROUTED LEGS AND WALKED AFTER ME! I was horrified! I staggered back - waited for it's strike - riposted in and swiped a few times with my trusty ax - and backed off. He got me a few times with his wicked branches but in the end I prevailed. I HAVE KILLED THE LIVING TREE AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE! Science 1 - Nature 0. I will not be thwarted this day. He was helpful enough in his death to provide me with more wood for my troubles. With each burning log I will remember this victory.

I spend the rest of my day tending to my wounds. Just when I thought I wasn't in danger - 3 frogs attacked me out of the brush. I fended them off in fear of my life, and conquered the foes one by one. Badly injured, I settle in by the fire and lick my wounds. Maybe i'll try and fortify the camp tomorrow... Maybe.

I feel eyes watching me from the darkness all night long. Between my recent attack, loss of friends, and lack of sleep, I feel myself slipping into a state of delirium. I use what little brush I have left and bind it with rope making a small bedroll. Despite a horrible day, I fall immediately into a deep sleep.

Day 9

I don't feel much better after a nights rest. I realize that my bedroll has been destroyed, which I can only attribute to the violent nightmares I had. I must have thrashed the poor thing to bits in a fit of flailing about during my slumber. I dreamt of the living tree attacking me, the foul creature. I awoke to a frog attack almost immediately. I groggily struggled to fend them off in my morning stupor.

I decided that despite setting up a permanent camp with some crops, this was far too dangerous of an area for me to reside without my pig friends. I'm going to go south and settle among the bees as I had the notion of before. I think I can succeed where the other adventurer failed in living among these creatures. Plus, I will be closer to the yak beasts I have grown so fond of. At least I can take a small comfort in that notion. I set up a temporary fire pit and think about my next move. I know i'll need to go back to my other camp and retrieve some of the things there. The ring thing in particular catches my thought - since I haven't had time to examine it. I doubt i'll go back for it tomorrow. There is much to do in order to make my new plot hospitable. I'm in no hurry to be attacked again. I cook as I think - roasting berries and carrots from the surrounding area. I was hoping to be past living off the land in this manner by now.. but I suppose that's where I am.

Day 10

I awake without incident. I decide I'm going to need rocks to rebuild a more proper living area so I set forth to find a quarry in which to harvest. I spend the day collecting wood and tending to my only source of comfort - the yak heard. I find that i'm quite hungry so I take some time to pick what few berries and dig up what few carrots I come across. Returning to my new favored plot of land, I return to settle in.

I start again by building a more permanent fire pit. I roast my spoils of the day on it's open flame and till the land around me for tomorrow's hopeful farming venture. I feel as though i'm back at square 1. At least this time I don't feel threatened by my surroundings as I did before. At least, not yet. Maybe i'm just being paranoid. Or maybe this place has finally taken hold of me. I need to be more careful. I need to protect myself. Maybe tomorrow I will also research a proper weapon.

Day 11

I spent all night tilling the land and prepping for today's crop set-up. I was able to manage 4 farms before depleting my resources. I'm happy with this progress because it means another form of semi-permanence (if that's something to relish).

I was attacked by 2 beasts as I examined my newly found farms. The dangers of this place are becoming too much to handle. I evaded one which tired and retreated, and brandished my ax at the other. I was able to strike the monster down in a couple short swings. I regret not having made a spear for protection like I had considered the day prior. Though the ax made short work of the beast it took it's tole on the durability of my trusty tool.

I cooked the foul creature's remains, but it didn't settle in me very well. I feel as though I have eaten a monster. In turn, I feel as though I have become a monster. Just when I thought I was safe I ended up running for my life once more and being forced into battling these inhumane creatures. I ate seeds hoping to stem off my hunger. I feel as though I might die here. Am I not just a hungry monster to the likes of which I have just killed? Am I not the same as these beasts? I need food. Real food. I'm beginning to think that being alone is taking it's tole on me far greater then the surmounting threats. I feel as though I am losing my humanity.

Day 12

I'm pleased to wake up to my crops being ready for harvest! Maybe I won't starve to death at least. Not this fine day! I ran around collecting fire wood for today's long night, and was able to collect some more manure for my farms. I can't wait for tonight's feast. It's almost incomprehensible that I may survive here. Another long night without rest and I set forth to collect what I need. I eat flowers along my ventures to try and keep up my health. To sustain until I can return to camp and collect my farm's spoils. I can hardly wait! This has invigorated my spirits! If I can just make it a little longer. If I can only just survive through the day, tonight will be something to look forward to.

I return home to have a delicious feast. On my ventures out today I had uprooted some berry bushes and was able to replant them at my new-found home location. I can only hope that they sprout in rotation with my crops so that it will help sustain my permanence here. The feast waiting for me is delicious. Two corn, an eggplant, and some foreign fruit later - roasted on an open fire - and i'm semi satiated. If only I could sleep I feel as though I may be rested enough for what I have planned tomorrow. Regardless, tomorrow is the day that I return to my prior camp and try to reclaim lost resources. I'm hoping that I am able to harvest the farms that I planted before, if the frogs haven't destroyed all I worked for.

Day 13

Today I ventured north, having summoned my courage to return to my camp from the week prior. Much to my amazement my pig-friend had returned! I don't know how their death is of such little permanence, but I don't care! I consider this to be a delusion at first until I see them attack some frogs in the same manner that made me understand they wanted me safe in the first place. I am so grateful to have friends again! I am almost to the point of tears! Maybe not all is lost in this horrible place. Maybe I can't really thrive here! Maybe, with a little help from my friends!

Day 14

I decided I needed to revisit my yak friends and collect more manure. I was running low and with all the farming I've done lately it seemed like a necessary resource to try and replenish. For the first time I was not greeted with neutrality from the yak beasts. They attacked me openly and caused me to flee in terror. My Pig Friend had tried to protect me while this happened but unfortunately were trampled to death. A loss of another friend. This cruel world has gotten the better of me. I was able to gather a small amount of stool from the yak-beasts in the meantime, but at what cost? The life of my friend. I will farm in his honor and never forget him. Tomorrow I will need to gather more wood for my fires, and more brush for my farm lands. I doubt i'll sleep tonight.

Day 15

I was right about not sleeping. I spent all night mourning my friends. I'm not fully a monster since I feel compassion for them. But i'm alone in this harsh world, this much is clear. I set forth fleeting with the need to collect more manure for my fields. Just a little more and i'll be set. Just a little more and i'll be able to survive. Just a little bit. A little bit is all. All I need. Just a little more. All I need...

The journal entry ends here. From the footprints around the decomposed carcass we found these log entries on, we can only assume that this last attempt to gather manure from these beasts seemingly in heat had heeded nothing but futile results. All signs lead that our poor explorer had been trampled to death by one of the only creatures that helped him sustain life in this cruel world. His knowledge will be passed on to further explorers so that they may prevail where he had not. Perhaps it is better this way. Perhaps he had been granted an escape from madness by the only creatures he truly found solace in. Perhaps their final gift was to set his soul at ease and release him from this twisted environment full of peril and heartache.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

There has been a scientific discovery today regarding a journal found of an explorer/scientist named Wilson. We have published these journal entries for the betterment of scientific discovery, and a more wide range of understanding in this newly discovered world. Please, be advised the content of these journals is not completely intelligible. It seemed as though after a week's time the harsh environment had begun cause Wilson to lose grip with reality. We have been able to recreate images based on the crude drawings found within the journal. Please be advised that these are simply renderings of the content provided. Anything you see is just an interpretation from the information granted by the journal.

Day 1

I'm stranded in an unusual land, seemingly alone I don't know how I got here. I happened upon a poor soul who may have shared my current endeavor. Unfortunately he did not have his wits about him..nor his skins. I helped myself to his stocks, thanked him, and continued exploring this land. I was able to acquire an ax, a pick, and a shovel, as well as some food and resources to build a small shelter or further tools. His sacrifice may have bought me a couple days to get my bearings around this place without having to worry too much about scavenging. I thank his bones again and again as I uncover the strange nature of this place. So far, nothing seems out of the ordinary aside from the rapid topographical changes. One moment i'm standing in a forest, the next a plains, and the nest a swamp. It will be getting dark soon - I'll need to build a camp.

Day 2

I didn't sleep at all last night. I saw eyes in the darkness around the edges of my fire light. I dare not try and find what it could be, at least, not without acquiring some protection first. I chopped wood around my dimly lit camp to stable my nerves and keep my fire to a low roar...but i'm getting tired. I also roasted some of the food I obtained from the dead explorer to keep up my strength. Some hearty meat and eggplant over an open fire was a nice way to end the day, despite being a little unsettled. When day broke I realized how tired I really am - I hope it doesn't affect my performance today.

It begins to rain. I'm comforted that there's at least weather changes here to go along with the topographical erratic-ism. It puts my fire out, so I begin to walk some more. This is when I come across a creature quite bizarre - Some kind of, worm in the ground which as I approach opens it's mouth wide as to engulf me. I dare not jump in for fear of the unknown. Perhaps I will return to find what mysteries this creature holds.

As I continue adventuring I come across another poor soul who has bitten the proverbial dust. I see foreshadowing in my own existence, but help myself to his remains none the less. Luckily for me since my clothes were damp and cold I was able to scavenge a suit made of logs from him. It's not the most comfortable thing, but I find it seems to protect my body well enough. Hopefully I won't need the extra
protection, but it never hurts to be safe.

As I see the sun set in the distance, after miles of running, I come upon a creature. I find a steaming pile of feces on the ground as I watch this lumbering hulk walk away. I quickly stash it away in hopes of using it for fuel or fertilizer. As I scamper away I find a whole heard of these creatures! I will probably not stray far from this amazing resource. This now shows me that there are bigger creatures then just birds and rabbits inhabiting this land. Fuel and potential food source, albeit i'll need to figure out how to take one of these beasts down if it comes to that. I couldn't be happier at this discovery!

I find another adventurer's remains before night fall. He seemed to be some sort of bee-keeper. As I ravage through his things I decide that it's getting too late to venture forth and further and decide to set up camp right there with him. It's comforting having his remains nearby during night fall...at least, in an abysmal sort of way. I hope I still have my wits about me, as it's only been two days. Has this place already gotten to me?

Day 3

Another tireless night. Even though I had my skeletal compatriot I find that I could not get a single wink of sleep. I pack up my things and continue on my way north (or what I guess is north). I find that there are more bees then I had ever seen in nature together, and find that my most recent deceased friend probably had a great idea in trying to capture them for a food source. Between the bees and my large woolly friends to the south I consider this spot as an ideal location to try and build a more permanent camp.

I continue north as I consider this possibility, and roam until the sun starts to set. I'm happy that I continued forth because I then came across the most particular creatures I've seen so far. Pigs! But not just any pigs. These pigs stood as humans do and show fairly cognitive capacities in that they have a low form of speech and are able to perform tasks. I watched these creatures for a good while before getting any closer to them. I decided they seem friendly maybe even helpful. I think this may be where I build a more permanent residence. Despite being exhausted I doubt I'll sleep. There is just too much to prepare for tomorrow to set up a real camp.

Day 4

After running a checklist of all that needs to get done when day breaks, it finally comes! I start the day by befriending these "Pig-Men". It wasn't that difficult, really. Perhaps I gave them too much credit for being intelligent beings before. Never the less, they are quite useful companions. They assisted me in clearing some trees around their lodging, which is where I will begin to build my new found camp! I started by digging up the remains of trees we had worked together to purge, and removing the root systems from the ground. Clearing a nice surrounding area to reside in.

As I worked, a quite peculiar Toad approached. I've never seen this species before, so I kept my distance. My friends however did not seem to take to my caution, as they attacked the poor creature on sight! I was thankful that they did, as the toad lashed out at them with a massive tongue which is when I noticed it also had a gaping maw with fanged teeth atop it's head. I allowed my pig-muscle to handle that situation so I could continue setting up shop.

Night was upon us entirely too soon. I had lost track of the time on account of being so busy. I quickly threw some rocks into a circle and used my new fire-pit while planted my metaphorical flag here in my new territory among allies. I was too happy with the results of this day to sleep at all. I instead used this time to think and invent. I was able to construct a makeshift backpack, which is a much needed accessory. I also came up with a perpetual science machine - which allows me to further invent new creations.

Day 5

I realized after consulting with my science machine, that I had enough materials to construct a small farm! I hadn't eaten for days on account of being so busy, so this revelation was at the precise needed time! I'll need to forage for food soon, but I'm hoping my crops will blossom and I will be able to sustain from them alone! My pig friends will also be happy having a new food source, since they seem to eat whatever they can. I realize I'll need far more manure for this venture - so I set south to find the heard of large woolly yak creatures. My pig-friend decide to follow at the heel.

During dusk, we were attacked by spiders.

My friends fought valiantly - and unfortunately perished by the venom of these vile creatures.

I ran as far as I could and found myself among the heard of large beasts. I found comfort there, being among a group. This also allowed me to gather more manure for my farm... I wouldn't not allow the death of my friends to go in vain. I worked tirelessly throughout the night collecting samples and gathering resources by torch light and eventually set up a small camp. I found that when true night fell the beasts too slept. I don't know why I expected any less but I found it nice to have a sense of normalcy in them. Though I haven't slept for days, I find these things oddly comforting.

Day 6

Upon day break I decide it's time to venture back to my main camp north of here. My friends had died, and I've gathered enough samples from the yak-beasts to tend to some more farming. Since i'm living off the land these days I deem it necessary to get a perpetuating food source running. I can't rely on scavenging all my meals any longer. This operation must happen today, so I set forth.

Making my way back north, I find a circle of unusual flowers around a quite unusual ring thing. I pick it up for further examination when I get back to home base.

Almost immediately north I find a grave site and start to regret my decision of picking this "relic" up. I hope no ill will befalls me. I return to camp again unsettled.

It dawns on me that I don't have enough grass to set for the ground level of my farm excursion. I find myself among some treacherous relics. Hidden toys and an ice staff surrounded by some type of blue hounds. I dare not venture too close. I return back to camp empty handed.

Day 7

I set back south to the plain lands in hopes of gathering more manure and some dry brush for farming. Hoping that I avoid all dangers along the way. I have become more unsettled by my surroundings, which I believe is necessary. Frogs with mouths on their heads, ice beasts, killer spiders. I've seen too much loss so far not to be more cautious. The idea of building a farm is all that's keeping me going at this point. It's been a week since I've slept - It's taking it's tole.

I spend my day scavenging for dried grass and run into the pack of Yak beasts I've grown so fond of. They greet me with their usual feces, to which I am grateful. I'm hoping to launch more farms today and this is exactly what is needed.

I head back early, picking wild berries and carrots along the way.

When I get back to my camp I find a nice surprise waiting for me in the form of a trapped bird and a fully grown eggplant! I will eat meat tonight for the first time in a week as well as a roasted eggplant. Maybe things are taking a turn for the better!

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Got a schedule posted and set in stone (or some other kind of semi-pliable stone material that can be changed if need be). It's more like a huge stone that we can chisel the face off of if there needs to be another surface for engraving a new set of scheduled time slots. Anyway, the schedule looks something a lot like this:

Twitch Scheduled at 3PM - ?pm PST or 8pm-10pm PST

Moba Mondays - Heroes of the Storm

Lootin Tootin Tuesdays - Diablo 3

Hump Day WoW Day - World of Warcraft

Thurs-Person Shooter - Loadout

Payday Fridays! - Payday 2

Shomer Shabbas Saturdays off - We sure as shit don't fuckin roll!

Tubes Topical/QA - Youtube Vid every Sunday

At this time it's only Thursday on the first week of the schedule. Done an hour or two in order to test the waters some. So far so good. The most popular stream day so far has been MOBA Monday by far, which I attribute to the game being in closed-Alpha and is pretty decently sought after by the community. Heroes of the Storm has all the MOBA players chomping at the bit to get into. MOBA for those who don't know is an acronym for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and is considered a sub-genre of the Real Time Strategy game genre. Basically a lot of clicking and strategic movement around the map, but not very high action feeling (to me at least). It's not my forte, but one of my main colleagues of the stream really enjoys those type of games so we're dedicating a day to getting in on that action.

It's also hard to compete with such a lively streaming community when there are live feeds and reels going around from this year's E3 convention, which is one of the largest gaming events as well as biggest reveal times for major labels in the entire year. We chose this time in particular to launch because there wouldn't be many people popping in to check out the streams as the kinks get worked out and some of the edges can get nailed down. It's kind of disheartening streaming to a more or less empty room, but hey, got to start somewhere. With the E3 Coverage there's also a lot of game news buzzing around this week which will make doing Sunday's proposed sum-up of the week video easy to pick topics for. It's all strategy here, all the time!

The character breakdown for the primary stream activities are as follows and with pictures!

MOBA Monday slot goes to my new support character Tyrande from World of Warcraft.

Support Character who possesses a Healing ability which heals the target and Tyrande in one action, a attack that launches an owl in a straight line, revealing the map and damaging enemies it passes through, and an AoE stun. Her ultimate abilities include either a group stealth (if the allies are close) or a large AoE damage ability that strikes erratically in the area which you cast. As a kicked in ability she has Hunter's Mark, which can affect one enemy at a time and increases damage dealt to that hero while the mark remains. Not a bad hero for someone who likes support such as myself.

Lootin Tootin Tuesday's session goes to my main Diablo 3 character named Echuta, the Witch Doctor. An all time fave of mine.

Echuta is a powerhouse of a character with entirely too much utility. From having an army of pets that skitter around him, to unbelievable "oh shit" buttons. Echuta remains king of my Diablo Experience. His build is as follows.

You can also click right here to link to his profile page. As a brief description of how he works is that he casts Piranhas into a vantage point which gathers up all the baddies. Then runs into a group of enemies - blows Mass Confusion so the enemies attack each other and take more damage, uses Soul Harvest to up his intelligence and do a decent portion of damage to the group, then he runs out of the group (using Spirit Walk if necessary, but usually holding onto that for when massive damage is deal to him) most of the time totally unscathed. His pets create a nice barrier for him to run to safety behind most of the time as well, which he then rains down toads on the remaining group of enemies from the safety afar. For really big baddies he'll use Gargantuan when he's in the fray... but it's reserved for pretty badass mobs. For being overly safe as well as overly badass, the Witch Doctor is #1.

Hump Day WoW Day also gets my main character slot over in World of Warcraft. The Blood Elf Hunter named Velgrim.

I won't get too much into what Velgrim does aside from saying he's got a Spirit Bear named Bjorn that follows him around and helps destroy his enemies close up. Meanwhile Velgrim rains down shit in the form of arrows, glaives, and other summoned woodland creatures that pile on the poor target and make short work of whatever life they have once Bjorn is done. The long and short of it is, Velgrim is a badass, and if you don't know how hunters work in WoW yet, you've either been living under a rock or have just connected to the internet for the first time. You can find more about hunters here or more specifically if you'd like to see Velgrim's gear and rap sheet you can find it right here.

Thurs-Person Shooter Day was rounded out with the all time crowd pleaser named Dirt Dog, from Loadout. The customized T-Bone character model.

This underwear clad gentleman is a force of nature. He has two primary weapons, in two different sets. His primary "big boy pants" set is called Big Dick's Big Shits - and carries a 1 shot rocket launcher called "Daddy's Little Goomba", and a secondary lightning beam rifle (like a protopack gun from Ghostbusters) called "Da' Giggle Stick". These two being his favored set, he also uses a support set called Da' Mad Haterade which features a 6 chamber firebomb rocket launcher named "Internet Hate Machine" and a nice healing beam rifle which he refers to simply as "Jamaican Herbs and Spices". Delicious. Mayhem never looked so good.

Friday Payday! - Tomorrow holds in store one thing - masked men and heists. Wolf is my character of choice, and I shall dawn the infamous Gold Tooth Grin he has had since launch.

He's both the subtle breeze and thunderclap. The flowing stream and raging river! For on the fly mission utility he's a ghost for those stealthy jobs to which he wears a simple black suit and silenced weapons. When the plan is to go in guns-a-blazin, he puts on his heavy suit of armor and picks up his shotgun. No words need be said. This build's mantra is "Say Nothing; Or say something REALLY LOUD"!

Just a little look into the main players of the weekly stream and how they work, should you care to involve yourself with any kind of mechanics behind the man. Looking at the breakdown I suppose I am mostly a support player that relies heavily on ranged as well as making allies the brunt of the enemies' targets. All the while I can sit in the back lazily taking pot-shots and swoop in to crush enemies at the precise time needed! Support is King, and Utility is his Prince.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

As a portion of my introduction I'd like to allow the internet to ask 50 questions, to which I will respond. I picked up a set of questions that weren't too deep but should help give a little more depth behind this guy and his keyboard. You can find the questions here so that you can see I didn't alter them. I think it's just a bit more genuine this way.

Lets get this rolling.

1. What was your favorite food when you were a child?I was a lot more picky as a child when it came to food. I ate a ton of chicken soft tacos from Taco Bell with guacamole to dip them in. Pretty much any fast food was a huge success for me (and still is). My mother didn't (and still doesn't) cook well, so eating out was always preferred. 2. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod?The last song I played on a device that isn't an iPod was "Slow Hole to China" - Clutch.3. What is one of your favorite quotes?I'm not one for direct quotes any more. I enjoy the occasional movie or TV quote, but I feel like in our culture today it's entirely overdone. I would pull a quote from life, my own personal experience. Unfortunately this wouldn't allow you to get any kind of sense of similarity between us since it's something independent of my existence. I have this friend whom I would always give advice with to our third friend. Our tertiary friend would always butcher the advice then blame us for giving him poor advice. This is when, without fail, he would always say "I should have listened to you guys", while asking for more advice. It seems insignificant now but then it almost seemed comedic. It always stuck with me. 4. What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?Videogames - indoor / Wishing I was indoors - outdoors. Really though, I play games for more time then I probably should each day, while watching movies or shows at the same time. I just absorb as much media as I possibly can all at once. Have to multitask. As for outdoors, I don't really like being in the heat, and I hate bugs buzzing around me, and pretty much anything else I can't control with modern technology like temperature. I like nature well enough, and appreciate a nice landscape, but I'm a sucker for modern conveniences.5. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?The Dishes. Fffffffffffffffffffffffffuck the dishes. I don't think it'd be too bad if the place I live had a dish washer... because you know, modern convenience...But it doesn't, so dishes suck. 6. What is your favorite form of exercise?Sex.7. What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?Evening time or early morning. Whenever there aren't many people on the road or bustling around. Any time during the Fall is my preferred time of the year - Cold but not too cold, lots of colors in the environments, and pollen and allergies are on the way out - not in. Plus Halloween? Yeah, definitely around then. 8. What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?Least favorite would probably be running. I hate running. Does that count? As far as getting long distances, I'd have to say maybe airplanes are bad now. I always seems to get stuck by a crying baby, or the arm-hung-over-your-section guy, or someone who has headphones on watching a movie that inevitably is the most hilarious thing in the world and just keeps cackling uncontrollably. I remember planes being larger as a child and I don't just mean that because I was but a wee-lad, but because it seems like everything has been compacted so much closer together so the airlines can jam more sacks of meat into their seats. 9. What is your favorite body part?Mouth. How could I spit hot fire without it? 10. What sound do you love?Cha-Ching 11. If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?I don't really party any more, but if I was to it'd be some kind of low key get together. Doesn't matter the occasion really. I don't like being crowded so it's not really my thing.12. If you could paint a picture of any scenery you've seen before, what would you paint?The ruins of Castle Blarney and the surrounding green rolling hills in Ireland. It was gorgeous there.13. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?Having not experienced all ages yet it's hard to say. I hear 30's are supposed to be the best years of your life? Almost, but not quite there yet. I'm still a poor twenty-something.14. If you knew the world was ending in 2012, what would you do differently?I'd laugh...because we're still here. There's always some kind of "end of the world" scare happening these days. People need to calm down with all that noise. If it happens, it happens. Why worry about the inevitable? 15. If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?Dave Grohl maybe? Not particularly a huge fan of his music per-se but I think he'd be a great person to learn how to be a person from.16. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?I'd like to see when the world is gonna end so I could tell everyone from question 14 that they're wasting their time worrying about the end of the world up until that point. Then I could be considered the crazy cook for launching a prediction for the end of the world however long down the road with simply "I traveled to the future and saw it for myself" as a frame of reference.17. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?I would like to learn how to self motivate better. I feel like I could accomplish a whole lot more if I had more drive to do so.18. If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be?The online game community called Game Recluse! Project in progress - more info on that will follow as it develops.19. If you were immortal for a day, what would you do?All the dangerous shit I wouldn't be able to do otherwise. I'd skydive out of a plane out in the middle of the ocean (with a GPS tracker of some sort so people could find me), then use the momentum from my free-fall without a parachute to plunge to the bottom of the ocean. Where I would then proceed to explore the bottom of the deepest point - granted I could wink there and swim back up in a day. I would also like to try my hand at some world records for longest motorcycle jump, or most helicopters jumped in a car, or whatever kind of indestructible stuff I could get into. I'd want it all filmed. Definitely.20. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?Maybe something Russian like Vladimir? They have cool names.21. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?First pick Jesus - Confirming of denying his existence once and for all. I think I could solve some of life's great mysteries with that pick. Secondarily maybe i'd take a swing at Nikolai Tesla granted I had a translator. 22. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?Tell my retail bosses to go eat a big fat hairy dick and quit on the spot. 23. If you were reincarnated as an animal/drink/ice cream flavor, what would it be?Animal would be house cat. You see how cute they are? Talk about some easy livin...shiiiiit.Drink? Uh... Something alcoholic I suppose. An old vintage whiskey, or classy desert wine. Ice cream flavor? Rocky Road - because ain't no road to the end of the line is smooth. 24. If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be? How do I change humanity for the better in order to accomplish worldly togetherness? Or, how do I become successful to the point of being filthy, stinking rich? Kind of polar points as far as questions are concerned, but it's not about that. I could use both of those answers to do some real good.25. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?Doctor Doom. Sure he may be disfigured.. but he runs his own country, has an army of well armed robots, is a multibillionaire, and later gained mystical powers. Sure he doesn't beat the Fantastic Four, or at least not permanently, but Doom has the whole villain package on lock down. If I took over his story I'd give up being a villain and just run out the rest of my years doing my own thing. 26. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?Mistaken for, nobody. I've said similar to the likes of Jack Black... I haven't figured out if it's a compliment or an insult yet, but it's happened a couple of times now. I guess there are worse people to be compared to, right? Build a career on dick and fart jokes then ride it to the top!27. What do you want to be when you grow up?Content and Successful.28. When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time?Depends on where I am. 30 mins of free time - Videogames. Maybe a quick nap if I need one.29. What would you name the autobiography of your life?My Name: Journey of the Mundane30. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?With a Little Help From My Friends- The Beatles.Nugget - CakePapa's Got a Brand New Bag - James BrownCrystal Skull - MastodonJust - Streetlight Manifesto (Ska cover of a Radiohead song)Full Speed Ahead - PainAntipop - PrimusB.O.B - OutkastBang for the Buck - Ugly DucklingStrange Ways - MadvillainNickel Dime - ClutchI could go on and on and on...You want me to just list my whole music library? How do you even gauge what songs to play and when? This question is a bit to non-specific to answer wholeheartedly I think. 31. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best?Not that I can think off offhand. There wasn't any instances where it was like "Don't hang out with that Johnny kid, he's a bad egg", to find out that little Johnny became some kinda criminal later and got into a bunch of trouble or whatever. I was an easy kid who didn't get into trouble. Boring, eh?32. What was one of the best parties you've ever been to?I don't really do parties. 33. What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up?Wall-E - Heartfelt warm and fuzzies causing tears: Check34. What’s the hardest thing you've ever done?Giving shits is something I'm forced to do daily which I consider difficult. I finished watching the show Dexter... which became painful to do after season 1. It took all of the mental fortitude I could muster to sit through that flaming doo-doo pile of a finale too. Though I admit John Lithgow's season was badass, it wasn't enough saving grace to save the show. First world problems, right? 35. What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?Moving out of a really piss poor situation really helped jump start me on a new path. I was essentially living at a drug house. My roommate sold weed and did a lot of drugs, so we always had potheads knockin on the door and interrupting whatever was going on. The life I was living there was very far from the life i'm living now (which is great I might add). I'm not knocking people who take drugs, not in the least. I am however knocking people who push their addiction's needs into other's paths and make it a problem for those around them. Sometimes you just have to remove yourself from bad situations in order to grow. The whole circle of people tied to that place and anyone associated with them is entirely removed from my life now. I make it sound like I was a crack addict or something.. which it totally wasn't like. It was just real depressing surrounded by the drug lifestyle and the situation that follows it around.36. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble?Talked back to authority figures talking down to me. I don't enjoy that and i'm the first person let a quick tongue loose when I feel i'm being talked down to. Sometimes i'll go overly passive aggressive as well, but usually talking shit is my primary defense. 37. When was the last time you had an amazing meal?Earlier today - Blazin Chicken Sandwich from Jack N Da Box. Ghost Pepper sauce anyone? Yeah, too good. 38. What’s the best/worst gift you’ve ever given/received?The best gift i'd ever given was probably to some of my siblings upon returning from a trip to Japan. I had gotten these really simple masks of Oni and a Kitsune which I gave to my eldest brother and sister. The best gift I'd say was in that same vein, which was an airline ticket from my Grandpa Jim which allowed me to stay 3 months with my bio-Dad. We hadn't spoken in a long long time, and it allowed me to reconnect with that side of my family in a place entirely unlike anywhere else i'd been in my travels. To say that trip was amazing doesn't do it any justice. I was able to put some inner demons to rest and regain a relationship with family that had been lost to me. It was a beautiful experience and the best gift i'd ever received. 39. What do you miss most about being a kid?The lack of responsibility. Kids, if you're reading this, enjoy it while you can. When the bills come it's all over and you become a slave to the wage.40. What is your first memory of being really excited?Sega Genesis bundle at Christmas time. The young me just couldn't wait to strap in and game for days on end. I had a neighbor with a Genesis and he turned me to jelly every time he'd invite me over to play it. I couldn't wait to have a console of my own. 41. What was the first thing you bought with your own money?I don't remember the "first" thing. The first thing I bought for a significant amount of money which I really appreciated however, was my first custom computer. I spent too much time researching and cross referencing pieces and parts to get exactly what I wanted. Drove home with a trunk full of pieces, unloaded, and settled in for a very slow and meticulous first build. I entirely too worried about botching something, or scratching something, or letting static from my hands fry something, or really anything that I thought could go wrong at the time. A couple hours later it fired up first try, flawlessly. I spent another couple hours updating everything and getting the essentials loaded up. Then it was an endless night of gaming on Star Wars Galaxies. 42. When was the last time you were nervous?I was checking the anchor points for our fly system's rigging in the theatre that I work for a couple weeks back. It requires taking a 50ft lift which bobs and wobbles and shakes every moment of escalation, idle time, and deescalation. I'm not scared of heights and I didn't fear for my life, but I will admit it was a bit unsettling. 43. What is something you learned in the last week?I learned about this website player.me not but a week ago. Helps consolidate some of the streaming and game related content i'm looking to put out there into one area. I also learned how to manage network connectivity between websites and linking up. Seems kind of trivial, but I didn't really dick around with social media up until this point so it was just something new, albeit nothing too fancy.44. What story does your family always tell about you?Depends on the side of my family. I when I get to see the different facets of family it's only usually just us hanging out so we regale about times of old. Usually I would guess if someone was walking to me I wouldn't be around, so they would be trying to paint a picture of who I am with a story - much like I'm doing for you right now. From my Mother's side, she's probably talk about how I was in the video game industry being successful or whatever. My Stepfather would probably talk about something related to living overseas or traveling. My bioDad would probably explain that we'd been out of touch for a while and the aforementioned re connection story from question 38. No real common story between them that I know of, so it's hard to say.45. At what age did you become an adult?Fifteen Years Old. I always thought myself to be more mature then people my age, but then again who doesn't think that these days? I could say I had the humor of an immature prick, but the responsibilities of an adult at 15. I had a full time job, was paying rent, and lived with roommates at the end of my 15th year on this Earth. 46. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.Depends on the picture. If the picture is a duck face there is only one word needed to describe it - Stupid. If there is some kind of elaborate scene, or some kind of deep artistic introspection going on, or some kind of raw emotion being portrayed I guess you could argue it's worth a thousand words. That would be cliche and I'm not artistic enough. There are only 3 words that need to describe pictures here on the internet, and they are as follows : Too Many Selfies47. Where’s Waldo?Stuck in the 90's.48. The best part of waking up is?Coffee. I know it's not exclusive to waking up, but it definitely makes it more tolerable. I tend to also enjoy a nice morning snuggle and/or luxuriate in bed. 49. How now brown cow?In the context of "What to do now" I suppose I'll double check these questions for issues, and then post. (Kinda redundant if it's posted now and being read by you - or me in the check through).50. Whasssssuuuupppppp?Seriously... That's the 50th question? I was just asked what's next, and now i'm being asked what's up? Nothing has changed in the 1.5 minutes it's taken to get to where I am now from where I was then. I guess what's up now is that i'm going to go get myself a drink and then post this questionnaire to the internet. The redundancy amazes me though. Really quite baffling.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

As promised, here's a little look a bit deeper into my MMO gaming history. Starting around 2001 I got into the MMO Scene a little bit late, considering Ultima and Everquest had already struck oil pretty big and made a name for the genra. At the time I was too young to have money for the subscription fees, so I stuck mostly to console gaming an non-subbed multiplayer games online. My favorite around pre-MMO game of the time was easily the Diablo series when I wasn't glued to a console. I was still playing it pretty heavily around 2001 when Dark Age of Camelot launched, though I was getting a little bit more into the big-boy games and subscription fees.

When I realized I found more joy spending money earned on a months worth of gaming for the price of a nights worth of pizza, I started subbing to games regularly. Dark Age being my first and easily one of the most unique and engaging PvP experiences in any game, even to this day. Dark Age of Camelot stole my attention for a good couple of years and was fun each step of the way. Having dabbled a little bit in other MMO titles, and backtracking into EQ and UO to see what they were about, but DAoC was the mainstay of mine until "the next big thing" came out. The next big thing for me, being Star Wars Galaxies. Combining my love of the Star Wars universe and a singular character development sandbox experience (meaning you only got 1 character per server, so the name you made for yourself stuck unless you rerolled - or unless you unlocked a Jedi slot which enabled you to have a secondary force sensitive character on that server), this game had me hooked to say the least. I spent countless hours every day grinding new character builds and exploring the world of SW:Galaxies. I'll end up posting more about my love of this game and how it tied into landing a job working for Mythic Entertainment at a later point, lets get back to my other game credentials.

I played Galaxies until it breathed it's last breath in 2011, but had side MMOs as they launched during it's life span. World of Warcraft was among them, which at the time didn't impress me during it's vanilla days. I quickly realized that the MMO genra was just something that I clicked with. I ate up everything I could get my hands on that was considered an MMO. I played everything that I could find that had a new theme, perspective, or game feature. Does it have player housing? PvP Focus? Sandbox or Theme Park? Medieval, Modern, or Futuristic? It didn't matter. If it was something different, and a massive multiplayer I wanted to be a part of it from ground zero. I played everything from Lineage to Dungeons and Dragons Online, Warhammer:Online to STO, EVE Online to Lord of the Rings Online. I've played most current MMOs to date even if only for a month or two. Tera, Rift, Aion, Guild Wars (which some debate is an MMO or not). Hell, I even played The Matrix Online in addition to Age of Conan as well as Tabula Rasa. My theme was, simple: Is it different then what i'm currently playing? Does it have a feature or focus I've not seen before? If the answer was yes, I was there.

Along the path I paved, others started to notice that "MMO's are kind of his thing", and some opportunities started to arise that let me work more closely with them. From a very obscured and quite frankly, dumbass lucky opportunity, I was able to get my foot in the door of the then Mythic Entertainment working as a lowly In Game Support for Dark Age of Camelot - See how we come full circle? I worked there for many years, and was in the CSR Pit (what we referred to the customer support area as), when EA decided they wanted to gobble up the company's next big project. The project being Warhammer Online. Around this time alot of changes had been made to the way we operated there at work. Being absorbed by a Goliath such as Electronic Arts, of course there were changes to be had around ye-olde-Mythic Studios. More responsibilities to the CSR Pit, such as learning Ultima Online as well as Warhammer Online at the same time, while still supporting Dark Age's clientele. Supporting three games isn't bad, and that's not my complaint at all. It's that we were given little to no time to do so, and when going back in time to Ultima Online, having minimal staff to learn the archaic tools used to support the game, as well as the new modernized systems of WAR, it was just a lot of information to absorb with a very high standard of expectations set. I digress. So I worked to support customers, in title, but ended up doing QA work and some developmental things along the way during my tenure in the company.

Fast-Forward to Warahammer Online tanking pretty hard and the inevitable downsizing that came along with a floundering game. This left me without a job, and bitter to game companies themselves, but nevertheless passionate about MMOs. On the horizon I heard that Bioware (one of my favorite companies at the time) had pulled the trigger on a project I had been following for years prior. Star Wars: The Old Republic promised to fill the gaping hole in my soul that Star Wars Galaxies had set so many years before. Elated by another Star Wars title hitting the MMO scene, I was chomping at the bit to have a taste of the new lightsaber laden game world. When it released I played it avidly for years until it unfortunately tapered off due to lack of endgame content and falling short on promises made. It started losing subscribers at which point I decided that since there were a lot of really great things happening over at Blizzard instead, I would return to the one true champion of the gaming industry and throw my dollars towards their screens. This is where i'm parked today - Blizzard fan-boy and MMO aficionado.